


It's Getting Dark and the Highway's Clear

by dorvanie



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), The Last of Us
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Last of Us, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Smut, The Last of Us AU, Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, we'll see how slow i can go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 15:25:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14673951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorvanie/pseuds/dorvanie
Summary: It's finally the end of life as Dan knew it. He and Phil are doing their best to survive in this new reality while dealing with possible changing nature of their relationship.





	It's Getting Dark and the Highway's Clear

Dan sits up against the large rock they decided to stop on for a while and starts to look through the frankly massive load of pill bottles he managed to find at the drugstore they went through hours before. The sun is beating down on his forehead and nearly blinds him so it’s a bit hard to read the labels. Only one bottle of naproxen was in the mix, some methadone, and the last was Lovastatin which wouldn’t be that much help to them as it was to treat high cholesterol. Nevertheless, Dan picked up what medications he could find because, at least for right now, he has room in his backpack and he never knows what situations could arise. Naproxen would be a helpful painkiller so he was thankful for a full bottle. Most of the painkillers and neurological drugs had been cleaned out of every corner so only the less common meds remained. Of course a lot of them had been taken by people who needed them to function being that they have severe anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder. But some, Dan reckons, had been taken by those who didn’t want to push through this world with the way that it is now. Maybe they found themselves a hole and hallucinated or got high with whatever would do that to them until they were...found. He would be lying if he said that the thought to do that hadn’t briefly crossed his mind when this first began, but it only crossed his mind for a second before he quickly came to his senses. He can’t leave this earth, even in the state it’s in because he still has something very important to live for. That thing is currently standing at the edge of the rock looking over a desolated and decrepit London.

He can only generally see Phil’s silhouette as it’s hiding a nearly setting sun. Dan pulls his bag up close to himself and squints at Phil. His head is tilted and his arms are pulled back and resting on his hips as he stands utterly still. Dan feels a little uneasy as he can tell that something isn’t quite right with Phil today. Something has been not quite right with him since the day they had to evacuate their apartment. He doesn’t blame Phil one bit for it though because how could he? Phil has many reasons to feel scared or confused or angry in the face of all this. Phil turns and drifts over to Dan and sits next to him.

“Should we eat now?” Phil asks quietly. Dan looks in his bag at the cans of beans they got from the store miles back and looks over to Phil and gives a small smile.

“We could yeah, if you want.” Dan answers. Phil gives an almost forced smile and a nod. Dan has noticed more and more forced smiles from Phil in the past few weeks, but he did his best to appear hopeful and cheerful when he felt like Phil really needed it because he thinks Phil does really need it. At least he does right now. He needs to feel like Dan is holding things together when he can’t, so Dan will do what he can to make him feel safe and reassured. Phil always does that when Dan needs it. He pulls out two cans of baked beans and sets them on the rock in between him and Phil. He digs around for spoons that he was sure they got at some point a while back, and Phil takes out his knife and stabs both of the cans at the top. Aha there are the spoons. They eat quickly and ravenously because the last time they did was last night and all they had was toastee crackers. They throw the cans over the cliff. 

Phil sighs audibly and looks over at Dan whose staring out at the sunset. He reaches up and drags his hand through Dan’s hair. “Your hair is extra curly today” Phil says slightly more cheerfully than he was before. Maybe he was just hungry Dan thinks.

“It’s the humidity, mate” Dan says. He looks at Phil who is smiling softly at him “we’ve been trudging around a London that’s hot as fuck” 

“yeah” Phil says as he lets his hand fall back to his side.

\---

Dan gets up reluctantly after sitting there for around thirty more minutes and adjusts his backpack onto his back. He’s looking down to make sure his straps are comfortable on him when he sees it. He sees the little ‘dan and phil’ logo sewed onto the left strap of the black galaxy backpack. It’s not like he forgot that he was carrying this one but he hadn’t thought about it in a while, and seeing it now gave him a weird nostalgic feeling that’s not really a good one. It’s one that’s sad and almost entirely void of the happy that goes with it. He doesn’t want to think about those times, at least not right now. The life they had is gone and it cant come back. Dan almost feels silly for the fact that he’s missing a time when they sold shit to people who wanted it for reasons Dan will never fully understand in spite of everything else that’s happened. But, he knows he shouldn’t feel silly as it’s not actually the merch he’s most sad about. It’s only a reminder that the life they had held so many things they cherished more than anyone could imagine. That’s enough Dan thinks, he doesn’t want to dwell.

Phil stands up too. He’s wearing his blue ice cream t-shirt (which looks substantially less blue and more stained these days) and straight leg black jeans because as much as they both love their skinny jeans, walking for miles everyday in them isn’t ideal. His belt around his waist used to only have the job of holding up his pants, but now it’s there to hold a combat knife and a pistol that still looks incredibly odd hanging on Phil even to this day. Dan never thought he would watch Phil brandishing a gun as an everyday tool, but he also never thought a zombie apocalypse would happen and here they are. Dan should have a gun too, but they’ve only managed to find the one so far. He hates to admit he’s almost thankful they haven’t found another for him to carry. Yes, he knows that in this world your most likely going to die without one, but it doesn’t change the fact that the goddamn things make him nervous. He knows Phil doesn’t love using one either but he’s had too a few times of course, and Dan also knows that if it weren’t for that damn thing on Phil’s belt, he probably wouldn’t be here right now. In this world the rules have changed.

“let’s get moving” Dan says. Hes wearing one of his black t shirts and he kind of wants to chuck it for a something else as the heat that they’re in right now is not good for all his dark clothing. they couldn’t bring much with them in the way of clothes or else it would be too much to carry, so he only brought what was comfortable and what he could remember through the panic of that day they left. Dan steps down off of the rocks and comes down onto the slightly soggy ground with a thud. He takes a few steps before he hears Phil do the same. The sun is very low now and they need get back to the house they’ve been sleeping in for the past three nights. They aren’t that far from it but they really shouldn't have stayed out on this rock for as long as they did. Yet Phil wanted to come up here so an obliged. He said he wanted to get a look at the city from up at this height so that’s what they did. It’s not that nighttime was especially more dangerous, but it made things harder to see and...Dan didn’t love the dark so much. 

They continued walking down hills and through brush until they made it back into the neighborhood where their house was. They unlocked the door, stepped inside, and pushed the massive chest of drawers in front of the door from where they had left it on the side this morning. They checked this house thoroughly back when they first came across it making sure there were no broken windows or places where people or runners could get in without making a noise. 

 

Phil stumbles back and leans against the wall breathing heavily and just stares at Dan. Dan can see him doing it out of the corner of his eye, so he looks up to meet Phil’s gaze. Phil’s expression doesn’t change from one that’s calculating.

“what are you thinking about?” Dan presses.

“nothing really just… today was good”

“yeah it was. I got some painkillers today.”

“and I found not one but _two_ cans of beans”, Phil smiles.

“they were good beans, phil, good job” Dan chuckles as he walks over and leans on the wall next to Phil. They’re silent for a moment. “are you..alright?” Dan asks quietly.

“uh yeah? I’m fine” Phil remarks.

“are you sure because I’ll listen if you want to talk.”

Phil laughs and it sounds bitter. What? Why would he laugh? Is he angry with Dan?

“I don’t mean to pry because I understand when you don’t want to talk, but I’ve known you for what? eleven years? I can tell when somethings up, phil.” Dan adds trying his best to keep his tone friendly so that if there’s any chance of Phil talking tonight he won’t lose it.

Then, Phil shifts a bit and looks over at Dan. His expression still looks guarded but his eyes don’t. They’re kind and open and just a little sad. But, he just smiles again and looks down, scanning the floor like it’s the most intriguing thing he’s ever seen. Dan feels a pull to hug Phil. He could, they’ve never been shy with their affection and they’ve always been remarkably close as far as friends go. But, this time feels weighted as if a hug from Dan is not what Phil would appreciate right now. Dan starts to move closer but stops dead in his tracks when he hears an all too familiar sound that’s not distant enough for his liking, and Phil’s head shoots up.

Clickers.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll try my best to post a new chapter when I can!
> 
> I hope it's at least a bit enjoyable uwu, and thank you so much for reading.


End file.
